part0022

She sat up and glanced around, wiping a tear from her eye. How long had she been out? She half expected to find Ricky with his hand down the front of her knickers. Thankfully, he was nowhere to be seen. Probably still brooding downstairs. Or had he left her on the boat by herself? She sidled over to the rapidly diminishing supply pile, relieved to find the flare gun still there. She tore Ricky’s vest from her body, suddenly appalled to have it touching her and sat shivering in her underwear, clutching the flare gun to her chest, her heart pounding. Where was everyone? Why hadn’t anyone come back? Where was Rachel?

Something came back to her. A scream. She had been roused from her slumber by a scream. Or had it been part of a dream? She tried to calm herself by counting to ten. She thought about going to check to see if Ricky was still there. And what if he was? Would she rather be here alone or with a sex pest? What if he tried it on again? And what if this time, he didn’t stop? She gripped the flare gun tightly. If the time came, could she use it? Could she pull the trigger on Ricky?

Another scream. This one was definitely real. She peered over the rail and scanned the coastline for the source. It was too dark.

‘Ana!’ came a voice from the blackness.

‘Rachel?’ Without thinking she raised the gun above her head and fired. The beach lit up momentarily and she could see her sister charging across the sand. Rachel hit the water running and dived in like an extra from Baywatch.

‘What’s going on?’ said Ricky, emerging onto the deck and rubbing his eyes. ‘Did you fire a flare?’

Ana ignored him. Rachel cut through the water like a shark, electing to swim rather than wade towards the ladder. She clung onto the rails and hauled herself up, throwing her whole body over the side and landing with a wet bump on the deck. Ana ran to her, cradling Rachel’s head against her breast.

‘My god Ana, we have to go, we have to get out of here, we have to go now,’ she ranted breathlessly.

‘What are you talking about Rach? You’re safe now, you’re safe here.’ Who was she trying to convince though?

Rachel pulled away and drew her knees up to her chin. ‘No, no, you don’t understand, they’re dead, they’re all dead.’

The whole world seemed to tilt on its axis. Ana’s heart plunged into the pit of her stomach. ‘Who? Who’s dead?’

‘Rachel, what happened?’ asked Ricky.

‘Shut up,’ snapped Ana.

‘Josh and Lill. I found them. By the beach.’ She looked Ana dead in the eyes, the moon reflecting in them. Her face was manic. ‘They’re dead. Not just dead though…massacred.’ She broke down. Ana was dimly aware of Ri cky shuffling about behind them. She continued to ignore him.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Ana, trying to control the rising panic in her voice.

‘Murdered,’ whispered Rachel. ‘Oh god, she’d been gutted. Something attacked me. I think I killed it.’

‘What do you mean “something”?’

Rachel sniffed loudly, tears streaming down her cheeks. ‘It looked like a man…but it wasn’t. It…I don’t know, I can’t explain.’

Ana held her sister tightly. ‘It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s gone now.’ She knew how hollow that sounded. She wanted to believe it herself but couldn’t, her breath coming in gasps, seconds away from a full-bore panic attack. Behind her there was a crash. She turned to see Ricky wildly searching for something.

‘What are you doing?’ said Ana, her voice a pale facsimile of its usual self. He slammed a cartridge into the flare gun and aimed it at Ana’s head. Time came to a standstill as Ana stared down the barrel of the weapon.